ALK,the Key Gene for Gelatinization Temperature,is a Modifier Gene for Gel Consistency in Rice

Gelatinization temperature（GT） is an important parameter in evaluating the cooking and eating quality of rice.Indeed,the phenotype,biochemistry and inheritance of GT have been widely studied in recent times.Previous map-based cloning revealed that GT was controlled by ALK gene,which encodes a putative soluble starch synthase II-3.Complementation vector and RNAi vector were constructed and transformed into Nipponbare mediated by Agrobacterium.Phenotypic and molecular analyses of transgenic lines provided direct evidence for ALK as a key gene for GT.Meanwhile,amylose content,gel consistency and pasting properties were also affected in transgenic lines.Two of four nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in coding sequence of ALK were identified as essential for GT.Based on the single nucleotide polymorphisms（SNPs）,two new sets of SNP markers combined with one cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence marker were developed for application in rice quality breeding.

Effects of Soil Salinity and Alkalinity on Grain Quality of Tolerant,Semi-Tolerant and Sensitive Rice Genotypes

Soil salinity and alkalinity adversely affects the productivity and grain quality of rice. The grain quality of 19 rice genotypes characterized as salt tolerant （T）, semi-tolerant （ST） and sensitive （S） was assessed in lysimeters containing saline and highly alkaline soils. Head rice recovery was reduced by salinity stress whereas it was not affected by alkalinity stress. The ratio of length to width （grain dimensions） was significantly reduced in the T genotype even at low electrical conductivity （EC, 4 mS/cm） and alkalinity （pH 9.5）, whereas in the ST genotype, it was significantly reduced at high salinity （EC 8 mS/cm）. There was no significant effect of any levels of salinity or alkalinity on grain dimensions in the S genotype. Amylose content was significantly reduced in T and ST groups even at low EC （4 mS/cm） and alkalinity （pH 9.5） and the effect in the S genotype was only at high salinity. Starch content showed significant reduction at high salinity and alkalinity （EC 8 mS/cm and pH 9.8） in the T and ST genotypes and no significant effect was observed in the S genotype. The effect of both levels of salinity （EC 4 and 8 mS/cm） and high alkalinity （pH 9.8） on gel consistency was observed only in the S genotype. The tolerant genotypes IR36 under high salinity, and CSIR10 and CSR11 under alkali stress showed less reduction in amylose content. The T genotype BR4-10, and ST genotypes CSR30, CSR29 and CSR13 showed better gel consistency under saline and alkali stress. Amylose content was affected even at low salinity stress and thus important to be considered in breeding rice for salt tolerance. Overall, the grain quality of T and ST genotypes was less affected by saline and alkali stress compared to S ones.

Genetic Polymorphism of Wx Gene and Its Correlation with Main Grain Quality Characteristics in Rice

The allelic variation of the Wx gene in 50 non-glutinous rice varieties （lines） was analyzed by using the microsatellite marker RM190 [for （CT）n simple sequence repeat （SSR）] and cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence（CAPS） marker 484/W2R-ACCⅠ[for G/T single nucleotide polymorphism （SNP）]. Six homozygous （CT）n types, namely （CT）20, （CT）19, （CT）18, （CT）17, （CT）16, （CT）14, （CT）11 and （CT）10, and a heterozygous genotype （CT）11/（CT）18 were detected for RM190, of which （CT）11 and （CT）18 were predominant. Two homozygous Wx genotypes （G/G and T/T） and one heterozygous （G/T） were detected using 484/W2R-ACC Ⅰ. Most of the materials with a RM190 of （CT）11 were G/G for SNP of 484/W2R-ACC Ⅰ, while T/T for SNP was predominantly appeared in materials with （CT）18. The materials tested could be grouped into 10 categories using the two markers together. Results indicated that 59.3% variance of amylose content was attributed to the polymorphism of Wx gene revealed by RM190, while 56.1% and 24.6% of the variances in amylose content and gel consistency were respectively to the polymorphism of Wx gene revealed by 484/W2R-ACC Ⅰ. Furthermore, with both SSR and CAPS markers, 72.4% of the variance in amylose content could be explained. In addition, the application prospects of the two markers in breeding were also discussed.

The Source of Genes Related to Rice Grain Starch Synthesis Among Cultivated Varieties and Its Contribution to Quality

The property of starch in rice grain endosperm is a very important determinant for rice quality, and it is essential to understand the genetic effect of the genes related to starch synthesis in high-yielding rice varieties for rice quality improvement. The physicochemical properties （e.g., amylose content, gel consistency, and RVA profile） were assessed on 53 rice varieties, including certain typical indica/japonica landraces and certain high-yielding modern varieties. And molecular markers for Sbel, Sbe3 developed on the basis of sequence diversities between the rice subspecies indica and japonica, together with PCR-Acc I marker for Wx gene were used to investigate the genotypes of 53 rice cultivars. The result showed that the developed molecular markers for Wx, Sbel, Sbe3 could distinguish indica or japonica alleles at three loci. Among all the 53 rice cultivars, six genotypes were observed when Sbel, Sbe3, and Wx loci were considered together, while the genotypes of WxiSbelJSbe3i and WxiSbelJSbe3J were absent. In order to explore the genetic effects of the three genes, especially for starch branching enzyme genes, ANOVA and multiple comparison analysis were conducted. The results showed that rice cultivars with different genotypes exhibited different phenotypes, including amylose content, gel consistency and certain RVA characteristics, and the significant differences among the six genotypes were observed. It was concluded that these three genes had randomly recombined during the process of the rice variety development. And the genetic effects of indica and japonica alleles at three gene loci were different, of which, Wx gene plays a major role in determining the starch properties, followed by Sbel and Sbe3, and the genetic effects of Sbel and Sbe3 in different backgrounds （Wx~, WxJ） are different. The results have provided a clue for rice good quality variety development, and the molecular markers will benefit to the improvement in quality of rice.

Characterization of Myanmar Paw San Hmwe Accessions Using Functional Genetic Markers

Paw San Hmwe （PSM） rice has been cultivated in many areas of Myanmar for a long time. Strong aroma, good taste and its elongation during cooking are the key characteristics of PSM rice. Thirty-one PSM accessions were genotypically characterized, and their physical grain and cooking quality traits were studied. We used specific gene markers associated with aroma, apparent amylose content （AAC） and alkali spreading value to determine the alleles carried by different PSM accessions. The results revealed that six PSM accessions （PSM10, PSM12, PSM13, PSM21, PSM22 and PSM30） had a 3-bp insertion in Os2AP gene. Gel consistency （GC） allele was predominant among the PSM accessions for gelatinization temperature （GT）, however, the phenotype observed was between low and intermediate GT because of the combination of the GC allele with the presence of low GT allele at heterozygous state from the other loci of the SSIla gene. Intermediate to high AAC was observed among the PSM accessions corresponding to the haplotype identified for the single nucleotide polymorphism G/T and the （Cm）n repeat in the Wx gene. The characterization and grouping data of PSM accessions posted benefits to Myanmar seed banks, and our results will help in maintaining the integrity of PSM rice variety.

Variability in Grain Quality Characters of Upland Rice of Assam,India

The grain quality of 100 uplandlahu rice genotypes from Assam, India was assessed. The characteristics measured were grain length, grain width, cooked grain length, cooked grain width, grain elongation ratio after cooking, grain widening ratio after cooking, alkali spreading value, gel consistency, as well as starch, amylose, amylopectin and total soluble sugar contents. Considerable genetic variability among the 100 rice genotypes was observed for the characteristics under study. Analysis of vadance revealed highly significant differences among the genotypes for all the characteristics. The difference between genotypic coefficient of variation （GCV） and phenotypic coefficient of variation （PCV） was very small for all the characteristics analyzed. High GCV and PCV were found in the characteristic of total soluble sugar content followed by alkali spreading value. The high values for these traits signify the scope for selection to develop superior genotypes. High heritability was recorded in all the characteristics analyzed along with diverse genetic advance which varied from 9.71% to 52.83%. The characteristic of total soluble sugar content showed high heritability with high genetic advance, whereas alkali spreading value and grain widening ratio presented high hedtability with moderate genetic advance. This implies that these characteristics are mainly under additive gene effects and could be relied upon further selection based on phenotypic performance. The genotypic correlation coefficient was higher than the phenotypic correlation coefficient, indicating strong inherent associations among the characteristics studied.

Cooking Quality Parameters of Rice Cultivars Grown in Spain

The quality office is complex and made up of many components such as nutritional quality, appearance, cooking quality and eating quality. The cultivar is one of the main factors that could affect to the grain quality office. The aim of this work was to analyze and compare the cooking quality parameters of six different japonica varieties of rice grown in Spain （Senia, Gleva, Bahia, Maratelli, Guadiamar and Bomba）. This work focused on the study of the cooking quality of rice, because it is one of the most important factors related to grain quality in Spain. It was evaluated using five characteristics： amylose content, gel consistency, degree of spreading, gelatinization temperature and pasting parameters. The amylose content ranged from 11.60% to 21.46%, with the Gleva cultivar having the lowest amylose content and with Bomba having the highest. The gel consistency varied between 5.44 cm and 9.81 cm. Regarding the alkali test, the Maratelli cultivar had the highest dispersion and transparency. Maratelli had the lowest gelatinization temperature （61.67±0.08 ℃）, and Senia had the highest gelatinization temperature （67.05±0.02 ℃）. Finally, the pasting parameters showed significant differences among cultivars with different viscosities.

Effects of soluble starch synthase genes on eating and cooking quality in semi waxy japonica rice with Wx^(mp)

The purpose of this study is to reveal the genetic mechanism of the variation of amylose content among different semi waxy or glutinous japonica rice in the background of Wxmp gene.Sixty-four semi waxy lines derived from the hybrid progenies of Wujing 13 and Milky Princess(Kantou 194)with polymorphism in soluble starch synthase gene SSIIa(SSII-3)and SSIIIa(SSIII-2)but no polymorphism in other starch synthase related genes were used as test materials.The genotypes of SSIIa and SSIIIa allele were identified by molecular markers,and the allelic effects of SSIIa and SSIIIa gene on amylose content(AC),gel consistency(GC),gelatinization temperature(GT)and rapid visco analyzer(RVA)profile characteristics were analyzed.The significant effects of SSIIa and SSIIIa alleles and the interactive effects between two genes on AC,GT,GC and RVA profile characteristics were found.The SSIIa and SSIIIa alleles from Wujing13 shown positive effects on AC with an average increase of 1.87 and 1.23%in 2 years respectively.There was no significant effect on GT for SSIIa or SSIIIa allele but remarkable influence on GT when the co-existence of the two genes.The genotype SSIIa^(mp)SSIIIa^(mp) shown 1.34℃higher GT than genotype SSIIawjSSIIIawj(mp and wj indicated that the gene was derived from Milky Princess and Wujing 13 respectively,the same as in the below).Different genes and alleles resulted in significant different GC.The genetic effect of SSIIawj and SSIIIamp on GC was 8.74 and 9.62mm respectively.The GC of SSIIa^(wj)SSIIIa^(mp) was 10.64 and 16.95mm higher than that of SSIIa^(mp)SSIIIa^(wj) and SSIIawjSSIIIawj,respectively.The allele SSIIa^(wj) could increase the peak viscosity(PKV),hot paste viscosity(HPV),cool paste viscosity(CPV)and breakdown viscosity(BDV),while decrease the consistency viscosity(CSV)and setback viscosity(SBV).However for the allele SSIIIa^(wj) the opposite was true.The genotype SSIIa^(wj)SSIIIa^(mp) had the largest PKV,HPV and CPV,the genotype SSIIa^(wj)SSIIIa^(wj) had the largest BDV and CSV,but the genotype SSIIa^(wj)SSIIIa^(mp) had the least SBV.According to the comprehensive effect of each trait,the genotype SSIIawjSSIIIamp was the best.The allelic variation and interaction effect of SSIIa and SSIIIa genes have important reference value for improving cooking and eating quality of semi waxy japonica rice.